*October 16, 2016 

*Place: Twin Ring Motegi

*Weather : Fair

*Temperature : 25℃

*Course Condition : Dry

*Audience : 52,216 (88,472/4days)

MotoGP Report

Marc Marquez has clinched his 3rd MotoGP world championship including 5wins in this season after 2 years.

Marquez started 2nd position from qualifying session, and kept the positon on openning lap. Marquez took over the lead on lap four and proceeded to dominate the race at Honda’s home track of the Twin Ring Motegi Circuit.

Valetino Rossi (Yamaha), who was in the second place on world standing chased after Marques fell on 10th corner in the 7th lap. Jorge Lorenzo, who replaced Rossi also fell on the 9th corner in the 20th lap, and it forced him to retire. He had unassailable 77-point lead over Rossi and 91-point lead over Lorenzo in the championship with three rounds still remaining.

Marc is the youngest ever rider to win 3 premier-class World Championships titles and 5 over all classes including 125cc and Moto2. He became the youngest to take the pole position as well as the youngest ever race winner in MotoGP in 2013. In 2014, he recorded the most pole positions equaling the record for most MotoGP victories in a single season

This year it tied a record of 8 winners so far after 15 rounds, Marquez’s steady achievement, 11 podiums including 5 wins led him to acquire the title.

“Marquez’s plant to win the championship was to stand on the podiums since his closest rivals over the title were Yamaha duo Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo who both have proven records.However, Marquez emerged on top at the early stage of the race, and his significant lead kept 2 rivals away from any opportunity to catch up with him.”

He never won the championship for the highest class here in Twin Ring Motegi, so the result gave his fans such a pleasure.

Cal Crutchlow(LCR Honda), who was in the fifth position in the qualifying race ended up in the fifth position which was his best result so far at Twin Ring Motegi. Also, Tito Rabat, (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) got 14th place and scored points after 3 races. It was his 9th time to score points so far.

Hirokazu Aoyama, who replaced injury victim Dani Pedrosa (Respol Honda Team) ended up in 15th place and earned points. Jack Miller (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS), who was the 14th for the qualifying round, crashed out on the seventh lap.

Honda’s constructors points after this round is 316. They will declare the victory at the next GP which will be held in Australia as well as Repsol Honda Team who earned 429 points so far.

Comments

*Marc Marquez(MotoGP Champion)

“It’s incredible. Before the race I did not expect to be champion, and I said that here it would be impossible. However, when I saw that Rossi was out of the race, I decided to push hard for the victory. I was riding my hardest and, when there were 3 laps to go, I have read on my pit board that Lorenzo was also out -and on that lap I made mistakes at 4 or 5 corners, as it was difficult to stay focused.

I am very happy because this title is very special, after last year, and also because it is has come at Motegi, Honda’s home. I had a very good feeling with Michelin’s tires. They worked amazingly well! I also learnt how to utilize it the front tire as well. It is great for my team and, of course, I don’t want to forget my grandmother, who passed away this year and would be very happy with this World Championship. I’ll compete the following 3 rounds with my own style.”

*Cal Crutchlow (MotoGP 5th)
“Today was a good finishing position for me and the team, but I made a mistake in the middle of the race. I ran the hard front tire, which I believe was the correct choice, but it was really difficult to go fast at the start of the race. So I waited and looked to do a good job towards the end, which was always going to be the plan. I believe I could have done that, but I ran off the track which complicated things for me.

I lost eight or nine seconds on that lap. It was my own fault, but I managed to stay on the bike as I went through the gravel, which was the main thing. We still managed to finish in a strong position, but evidently we are a bit disappointed as we could have battled for the podium today. The Team did a great job, though, and another top-five result is important for the second half of the season.”

*Tito Rabat (MotoGP 14th)

“I am very happy for this 14th position after scoring zero points at the past two races. I was very focused this weekend on understanding my limit and finishing the race to learn more about MotoGP and I did this. Two points at Motegi, which is not an easy track for me, is great for the team and now I want to take this feeling to Australia next week and continue to improve.”

*Hirokazu Aoyama (MotoGP 15th)

“My job for this GP was to learn things from the race as a test rider and to coach talent cup riders, but I was well prepared with racing equipments as well. I might have be thinking about joining the race subconsciously.

I was bit nervous about the joining the race from Saturday since it will take some time to knock the rust of the race. I felt the pressure to be on the race as a part of Respol Honda Team, but now I can say I am very relieved that I could finish the race and it was a very good experience for me to join GP in Japan. I really appreciated this opportunity.”

*Jack Miller (MotoGP Retired)

“I just made a small mistake and braked a little too late and lost the front-end in turn one. I tried to stay on the racing line but I was a little too fast and just tucked the front. I was pushing hard to stay in the group with Scott, Petrucci, Bautista and Bradl and it was shaping up as a nice little battle until I made the mistake and it was all over.”

→Read the full article(*JAPANESE)

Original Source[ Honda ]